Featured Cocktail - The El Diablo

Blackcurrant berries.

To make this drink, you’re going to need a couple normal cocktail staples - tequila and ginger beer. And also a slightly less common ingredient called creme de cassis.

We’ve encountered this ingredient on the podcast before. It’s a French style liqueur made with blackcurrants, which are difficult to find in the US due to a law against their cultivation designed to prevent a certain type of blight.

However, there are a few places where the laws have been revised, and we’re starting to see some domestic versions of creme de cassis. One of those is produced by our friends out at Mt. Defiance Distillery in Middleburg Virginia, and you can hear Distiller Peter Ahlf talk about that in more detail Episode 19 of this podcast.

And, if you want another take on Creme de Casiss, check out flavor scientist Dan McCall’s explanation of why blackcurrants are so damn delicious in Episode 5.

Two Takes on the El Diablo

The Architecture of the Cocktail Recipe

2 oz blanco (silver) tequila

3/4 oz Creme de Cassis

Ginger Beer

Shake the tequila and the creme de cassis over ice, then strain into a collins glass and top with ginger beer.

The Architecture of the Cocktail version is going to be a bit sweeter and more mellow, with emphasis on the liqueur and ginger beer, and the Imbibe.com version is going to be driven by the aged tequila and accented by that healthy dose of lime juice.

So, looking at these two recipes, we can gather that when you want to make an El Diablo cocktail, you should be asking yourself:

A.) What kind of tequila do I want to use?B.) How much acidity do I want in my drink?C.) How sweet do I want it to be?

Lightning Round

Favorite Cocktail

A Bloody Mary, but with Gin.

Cocktail with Anyone, Past or Present

1.) A Gin Rickey with Zelda Fitzgerald in the Riviera.2.) A Gin & Tonic with Queen Elizabeth of England on the turret of St. George's Chapel in Windsor overlooking Harry and Meghan's upcoming wedding.

If You Were a Cocktail Ingredient or Tool, You Would Be...

I would be a swizzle stick because I like mixing things, environments, people, and stories all into one experience.